Roman Harper’s mind blown at not seeing Smith with Panthers

It wasn’t that long ago Roman Harper was trying to knock Steve Smith’s head off.

Now he has a different reaction to Smith not being with the Panthers any longer.

“It’s mind-blowing,” Harper said after signing his new two-year deal with the Panthers, via Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer. “When you think of the Carolina Panthers, you think of that guy. He’s probably been the one constant, consistent player for 10, 12, 13 years. I would love to play with that guy because I know how much he competes. I know how great of a player he is.”

Harper won’t get that chance, but he will see Smith when the Panthers play the Ravens this year.

Perhaps the two will exchange words again, as they did after Harper’s late hit on Smith triggered a fight between the two teams after a touchdown. Harper was fined $15,000 for the hit.

“We’ve had our run-ins but when you play a team twice a year you’re going to have those. He will be missed around here I’m sure, even though I’ve never been his teammate,” Harper said. “I know he runs his mouth, but he knows I talk back. So it’s been fun.”

Harper adds some experience to a Panthers secondary that needs it, after losing safety Mike Mitchell and cornerback Captain Munnerlyn in free agency. He said he’s glad to join a Panthers team with a ready made front seven, which will make his job easier. Of course, not having Smith there will make it easier still.

My mind is more blown the Panthers giving a 2 year contract to a safety who couldnt cover his nose if he sneezed. After years of getting out right abused in coverage, his mind is on the wrong thing in my opinion.

Still in a shocked state of rage, even a week after Smitty was cut. It’s one thing to cut him if you have a group of young receivers trying to get a shot. If you have a group of guys you feel good about and want to give them their chance to step up and be leaders and contribute to the offense… but we didn’t have that. In fact, DG let all the receivers walk.. and hasn’t been able to snag anyone in FA as of yet.. and the market has severely dwindled since. It’s one thing to let the market settle and go bargain shopping.. it’s quite another to cut the best player in franchise history, with no clear explanation or rationale, and here we are sitting in week 2 of FA and still have yet to sign anyone that will catch passes. This is the biggest disappointment I’ve even felt as a Panther fan.. and being a fan since day 1 in 1995, there have been some pretty big ones.

I know GMs are supposed to take emotion out of th equation, but he had to see how mad he made us when the small group of people showed up in their 89 jerseys to protest. Has that ever happened before? I don’t think even Jerry Rice getting cut stirred up a fan protest. The whole “we have to make Cam the team leader and we can’t do it with Smith here” argument is complete BS, and becomes an even bigger pile of BS now that Cam won’t be on a football field until training camp opens.

As for Harper, with our front 7 and (hopefully) decent corners covering the outside, I am comfortable having Harper in run support and guarding the middle of the field with Kuechly.

As a Saints fan I really couldn’t ask for more this offseason. We trimmed some fat, got the best FS on the market, and for some reason the team who won our division decided to gut their team…AND SIGN ROMAN HARPER….we all know who Brees is picking on when we play the Panthers this year ….